1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a connector, and particularly to a connector having a pair of improved solder pads for mounting the connector onto a circuit board by soldering the solder pads onto the circuit board by surface mounting technology (hereafter, SMT).
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,654 discloses a conventional electrical connector 60 which is shown in FIG. 4. The connector 60 comprises an insulative housing 61, a plurality of contacts 62 received in the housing 61 and a pair of solder pads 63 for retaining the housing 61 together with the contacts 62 onto a circuit board 80 by soldering the solder pads 63 to the circuit board 80 by SMT. The housing 61 defines a pair of L-shaped channels 611 in two opposite lateral sides and communicating to a bottom side of the housing 61. Each solder pad 63 generally has a U-shape comprising a horizontal retention portion 631 and a horizontal mounting portion 633 connecting with each other via a vertical portion 632. The retention portion 631 is received in a horizontal section of the L-shaped channel 611 and the mounting portion 632 exposes beyond the L-shaped channel 611 to be soldered onto the circuit board 80 thereby retaining the housing 61 together with the contacts 62 onto the circuit board 80. The solder pad 63 has a simple configuration and can be manufactured at a low cost. The present invention discloses another configuration of such a solder pad that can be manufactured at a low cost, too.